With many regrets, IHDP has to announce that
the 7th Open Meeting, planned for 15th -19th October 2008 in New
Delhi, will be postponed and relocated.

In recent weeks, the devaluation of the dollar,
the inflation of hotel and venue costs in Delhi, and increases in
the cost of air travel have accelerated to the point that the financial
basis for the meeting was threatened. Unfortunately, we have therefore
had to conclude that our goal of bringing together a significant
number of scholars, including early career and developing country
colleagues at a reasonable price was in danger and that an alternative
venue for the OM needs to be sought.

We understand that this will come as a great
disappointment to the many scholars who were preparing to come to
the Open Meeting. We share this sense of disappointment and are
keenly aware that in some cases this may seriously compromise existing
plans.

We are committed to holding the Open Meeting
as soon as possible. We are currently assessing alternative venues
and dates, and expect the OM to be relocated to or near our headquarters
in Europe, in the spring of 2009. We will make an announcement about
the new date and venue no later than July 1st 2008.

All panel, paper and poster acceptances for the
Open Meeting remain valid. When a new venue and dates have been
confirmed, all participants will receive full information about
scheduling. We recognize the disruption that this will cause for
some of you and are committed to facilitating your access to the
new meeting location.

We are convinced that with this measure, we will
be able to ensure that the 7th IHDP Open Meeting will become a full
success and will once more provide an important forum for the international
Human Dimensions Research Community.

The International Human Dimensions Workshops
(IHDW)

We should also state that the International Human
Dimensions Workshops (IHDW) will still be held at New Delhi in October
as planned. This is because the substantial cost increases in Delhi
that have affected the viability of the Open Meeting do not affect
the IHDW workshops, which are held in different facilities.

The IHDP Secretariat in Bonn will be seeking
additional funding which will allow participants in the IHDW to
take part in the rescheduled Open Meeting.

If there are any queries about this announcement,
please contact the IHDP Secretariat at openmeeting@ihdp.unu.edu